The Cannibal

Heavy symbolism. In fact, the entire book seems comprised of symbolism so if you're looking for a plot this isn't the book for you. Shoots back and forth from Germany 1918 to Germany 1945. Think Ageyev or Kiesbye meets Böll. Think Hawkes.

Inspired by a book on dada and surrealism I finished recently, I've been seeking out related literature. This appeared in some list or other I came across, though I wonder if Hawkes was truly part of it influenced by these movements. His prose is stylishly written, but his pacing never varies (lots of overwrought and often gratuitous description of dystopia) and his characters are barely distinguishable from one another. I found myself forgetting what happened shortly after I read it; and not much happens in this story, to be honest. But this is his first novel, and my interest is piqued enough to give the used copy of "The Lime Twig" I found a try, since that is supposedly his masterpiece.

Three of the reviewers simply don't know what they're talking about. If they were writing about art, they'd probably say that Picasso can't draw.

John Hawkes is a master of allusion and sordid subtleties. In *The Cannibal*, Hawkes' apocalyptic vision of post-war Germany attacks the reader in the form of an ever-deepening chill. Readers of Gunter Grass's *The Tin Drum* will find an interesting parallel here in Hawkes' sterile world. This man is one of the greatest, most difficult writers of the twentieth century. I also highly recommend *The Lime Twig.*

Hawkes has gained a strange and slobbering coterie within and beyond the academy: hopefully NOT on the basis of this amateurish novel. The characterization is awkwardly composed and just stinks of falsity (attempts at "literariness", rather than life), the diction is mannered, the symbolist gestures obvious and unappealing...well, you get the idea. Read Tin Drum if you're set on postwar Germany: a masterful alternative, light years beyond Mr John Hawkes, Man of Letters.

having read two other books from Hawkes (The Lime Twig, Death, Sleep and the Traveller) I was eager to discover more.Unfortunately, the Cannibal simply didn't work for me. It is very heavy reading. I think I won't be able to finish the book. the style reminds me of Pynchon's Gravity Rainbow, which I also abandoned after struggling with the first quarter.i am nevertheless looking forward to reading other books from Hawkes; already ordered The Blood Oranges.